Saint Martin’s day: the new wine celebration

Saint Martin’s day: the new wine celebration

Here, in Salento, November is a special month. It gets a bit cooler, so we light up cozy fire in our fireplaces. You can actually smell it in the air in the evening, the first sign of incoming Christmas.

November,11 is Saint Martin’s day ( San Martino ) in whole Italy. Here, it is also the new wine day. Yes, not only French people celebrate the new wine, we do it too. The first wine of the year, called vino novello is released just few weeks after grapes has been harvest.

It’s red, it’s tart and immature. And delicious.

Surely not good enough for sophisticated wine snobs. Surely perfect to enjoy it with friends, in front of a fireplace or a bonfire, together with roast chestnuts and pittule ( fried marbles of risen dough). You can go out, to a restaurant or masseria, or to a friend’s home, or invite everyone to your place, the important thing is to stay together. To talk, laugh, eat and drink. And most of all, to be happy.